Filing device



W- SCHOLL FILING DEVICE July 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 30, 1959 w. SCHOLL FILING DEVICE July 31, 1962 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Sept. 30, 1959 Fig. 4

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The present invention relates to a filing device having outreachingly secured boxes removably supported on a supporting rail and held against tipping by being suspended from a holding rail arranged at a higher level than the supporting rail.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description of embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, and in which reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a first,

FIGURE 2 a modified embodiment, and

FIGURE 3 a perspective view of a filing device.

FIGURES 4 to 7 further show difierent profiles of the supporting rails.

In the drawings reference numeral 1 designates file containers in form of boxes adapted to receive files and which for the sake of simplicity are represented in FIG- URES 1 to 3 of same construction. It should be noted here, however, that the shape and structure of these boxes may be widely varied without departing from the invention. Some modifications of the structure of the boxes shall further be indicated hereafter. In'the represented type the boxes 1 comprise a base or bottom 2, a back 3 and side walls 4, these parts being best seen from the perspective illustration of FIGURE 3. From the latter figure and more particularly from FIG- URES l and 2 it is further visible that the back of the boxes is shielded by a cover or protective plate 5, e.g. of sheet metal, the rims of which are bent at right angles at both sides as well as at the bottom about the side walls 4 and the bottom 2, respectively. The protective plate 5 is secured to the box by means of rivets 6.

The upper rim of each protective plate 5 is prolonged beyond the folded side rims and the prolonged portion is rearwardly cranked or hooked to form a gripper member 7. In the lower end portion of the protective plate 5 is secured a supporting member 8 also cranked or hooked to the rear but downwardly. This supporting member made for example of a sheet metal plate could, as also the gripper member 7, be formed from a portion of the protective plate 5 itself. At a wall portion 9, which may be the rear wall of a cupboard but which also may be any wall of a room, there are spacedly arranged parallelly and horizontally extending profile rails of T-shaped cross-section. These rails 10 are secured to the Wall through vertical beams to which the rails are secured by means of a bent end of their web. As well the gripper member 7 as also the supporting member 8 or" the boxes engage the rear side of the rails 10 whereby the gripper member 7 cooperates with the lower edge 12 of the rails 10 while the supporting member rests on the upper edge 13 thereof. Thus, each box 1 is held by an upper and a lower rail portion 12 and 13, respectively. Thereby of course the lower rail portion serves as supporting rail and the upper rail portion serves to prevent any tipping of the boxes about the lower rail and thus may be designated as holding rail. With appropriate structure of the profile rails such as for example the represented one, several rows of boxes may be arranged in superposed relation whereby each profile rail includes a supporting rail and a holding rail for two superposed adjacent rows of boxes.

3,47,l58 Patented July 31, 1962 As is clearly visible from FIGURES land 2 the distance separating two profile rails is chosen such that the boxes 1 may be somewhat lifted before the gripper member 7 abuts the holding rail 12. This lifting permits unhooking of the supporting member 8 from the supporting rail 13 whereafter the box 1 may easily be removed. Thereby it should be noted that when the box is lifted it cannot abut against and thus damage the boxes of the upper row of boxes.

In order to insert a box into the represented and described filing device first the gripper member 7 of the box is engaged whereafter the box is pivoted downwardly and rearwardly until the protective plate 5 rests on the supporting 'rail 13. Then the box is lowered whereby the supporting member 8 is hooked on the supporting rail 13. The thus inserted box may easily be displaced laterally by sliding.

.In some cases it may be desirable to suspend the boxes so that they rest in a position in which they are slightly inclined forwardly. This may be attained as shown in FIGURE 2 by arranging the edges of the profile rails serving as supporting rail 13 and holding rail 12, respectively, not in the same vertical plane. On the other hand the cranking of the gripper member 7 could exceed in rearward direction the cranking of the supporting member 8 in order to obtain the same inclined position of the box with the profile rails according to FIGURE 1.

An inclined suspension of the boxes is also rendered possible by the rail profiles shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, the latter consisting of commercially used Z-irons secured spaced from the wall by an intermediate member 11.

According to FIGURE 4 the rails 10 are secured to both sides of a wall 9 said rails having a profile as shown in FIGURE 1. In this manner the filing device could be arranged to utilize at the best the available room.

Similar arrangements may be made with supports as shown in FIGURE 7 of H-shaped cross-section. Preferably such supports are secured to the walls at both ends. The possibility of securing the profile rails at both of their ends, for example to the side walls of a filing cupboard is present for any desired rail profile. In this mannot it could also be possible to secure filing devices by means of rods or framings fastened between the floor and the ceiling of a room.

As is clearly visible from the preceding description the rail profile may be freely chosen within the scope of the invention as it is also possible to make use of several shapes of boxes. For example the aforementioned gripper and supporting members could be formed by an uncranked prolongation of the cover or protective plate, whereby the lateral rim thereof folded onto the side walls of the box could be prolonged downwardly and folded about the bottom of the box in order to protect the latter too,

Filing devices as described present over prior filing devices using letter files and suspended wrappers an excellent accessability, easy divisibility combined with possibility of re-arrangement. Moreover they are space-saving. The present invention provides such a filing device which in addition is cheap in manufacture, very strong and stable, easy to handle and for this reason brings further progress to the handling and storing of files. As well the supporting rails as also the holding rails may be provided with spaced abutments securing the position of each box. The same purpose could also be attained by slotting one or several rails whereby the gripper and/or the supporting members may engage these slots.

I claim:

1. A storage system comprising vertically spaced, substantially horizontal rails, the upper of said rails including a downwardly extending flange and the lower of said rails including an upwardly extending flange, said flanges including respective extremities spaced at a predetermined distance, a container including a rear portion having upper and lower ends, rearwardly extending members on said upper and lower ends and spaced at a distance which is less than said predetermined distance, and upwardly 'and downwardly extending members on the rearwardly extending members of the upper and lower ends of said rear portion respectively and adapted for hooking behind said flanges so that the weight of the container rests on the lower rail and so that the upwardly extending member limits the tendency of said container to pivot about said lower rail, the upper member being larger than the lower member to permit ready detachment of the container from said rails.

2 A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each rail includes a second flange whereby to cooperate with a further container.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rear 4 portion and the said upwardly and downwardly extending members are in spaced parallel planes.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rails are T-shaped.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rails V are Z-shaped.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rails are H-shaped.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,416,969 O'Connor May 23, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS 220,895 Australia of 1959 917,301 France of 1946 1,176,127 France 61 1958 

